James "Philosopher" Smith was born in George Town 1/7/1827 to John Smith and Ann Grant. In 1836, after the death of his father and remarriage of his mother, John Guillian, ship owner and flour-miller became James's guardian. Smith managed a flour mill before heading to the Victorian Goldfields in the 1850s. Returning to Tasmania, Smith farmed and explored the Forth area. He discovered tin at Mt Bischoff in October 1871, establishing a mine. In 1873 the mine was taken over by the Mt Bischoff Tin Mine.;;Mary Jane Love, aged 32, married James in Launceston on 16/9/1874. Mary was a widow, having previously been married to a Mr Pleas. James and Mary Jane had six children - Leslie John (b.8/9/1875), Annie Bertha (b.22/2/1877), Eva Laura Mary (b.23/9/1987), Gertrude Elizabeth Marion (b. 2/8/1880), Ronald Edgar Smith (b. 25/07/1881), and Garnet Heber (b.25/9/1884).;;The Mt Bischoff Tin Mine commenced paying dividends in 1878, however by this time Smith had sold most of his interests. Instead Smith continued to farm and explore in the Forth area. Smith was elected to the Legislative Council in 1886 but resigned owing to ill health in 1888. He died 15/06/1897 at the age of 69. There is no record of why James was known as 'Philosopher'.